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This is the One who is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature. He is also the One who created the world. He is the One who spoke long ago through the prophets of Israel in many portions and in many ways to the ancestors of the Israelites who lived before the birth of Jesus Christ.
In other words, at the end of all these prophecies, God clothed Himself in the body of His Son and spoke to mankind.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.
(Hebrews 1:1-2)
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When the people marveled at this holy Man and asked,
Jesus said,
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"Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning" (John 8:25).
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Then He said,
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"Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58).
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In saying this, He was revealing Himself as the eternal One.
The Holy Spirit of the One who said, "Before Abraham was, I am"
and "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning" is the Holy Spirit who was in the prophets (in their spirits) long ago as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
(1 Peter 1:10-11)
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God, who spoke to the Israelites through many prophets over such a long period of time, also said,
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"You are My witnesses," says the Lord, "and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I,even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior. I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King (Isaiah 43:10-11, 15).
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He is the One who was born on this earth in accordance with the prophecies that said that a Child would be born, a Son (the only begotten Son) would be given and He would be the Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. He was born in the humble physical form of a man; He was the Word made flesh (See John 1:14).
He came to His own, in other words, He came to the land of Israel, but in the end, those who were His own didn't receive Him. They subjected Him to the most severe punishment of their time; they crucified Him. His hands and His feet were pierced with nails.
The Man who was killed in this way as a sinner, His face contorted in pain,
a crown of thorns on His head, was none other than God's only begotten Son.
About 740 years earlier, the prophet Isaiah had written,
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Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men" (Isaiah 52:14).
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